{"id":217412,"date":"2021-03-21T09:18:11","date_gmt":"2021-03-21T03:48:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/?p=217412"},"modified":"2021-03-31T15:16:24","modified_gmt":"2021-03-31T09:46:24","slug":"sirasa-network-under-fire-again-nandasena-vows-he-knows-how-to-teach-media-a-lesson","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/sirasa-network-under-fire-again-nandasena-vows-he-knows-how-to-teach-media-a-lesson\/","title":{"rendered":"Sirasa Network Under Fire Again: Nandasena Vows He Knows \u2018How To Teach Media A Lesson\u2019"},"content":{"rendered":"

President Nandasena Gotabaya Rajapaksa<\/a><\/span> fired salvos at Capital Maharaja Group Chairman Kili Rajamahendran<\/a><\/span> (Maharaja) and dissident media on Friday (20) warning that he knew how to \u201cteach them a lesson if necessary\u201d.<\/p>\n

In his latest instalment of \u0d9c\u0db8 \u0dc3\u0db8\u0d9c \u0db4\u0dd2\u0dc5\u0dd2\u0dc3\u0db3\u0dbb (Conversation with the village) in Walpane on Friday, the President revealed parts of his old self, his voice growing shriller as he issued dire warnings to media personnel and organizations he said were hell bent on destroying his government.<\/p>\n

Issuing a clear broadside against Rajamahendran, President Rajapaksa claimed that some media proprietors were trying to control governments and the rulers.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere are no kings in our country and no Maharajas. These mafias want to control governments and rulers. That\u2019s not going to work with me. If necessary, I know how to teach them a lesson,\u201d the Head of State threatened to a smattering of applause from the crowd.<\/p>\n

\u201cDuring 14 months of rule, I have never exerted any pressure on any media institution. But if they try to abuse (media freedom) there are laws to deal with that. There are ways to do it and I will execute those methods,\u201d President Rajapaksa charged.<\/p>\n

The attack on Capital Maharaja group and its chairman was particularly chilling because the Sirasa Network was repeatedly targeted when the Rajapaksa government was last in power from 2005-2015. The worst attack<\/a><\/span> took place on 6th<\/sup> January 2009 when Sirasa\u2019s state of the art studio in Depanama Pannipitiya was torched by a group of 20 armed men. Investigators discovered that the attackers had also attempted to explode a claymore mine inside the studio which would have caused the loss of life. The attack on the Sirasa studio followed months of public threats against the network by then Defence Secretary Gotabaya Rajapaksa and his Ministry of Defence accusing the broadcaster of being pro-LTTE. In a televised interview on ITN three months after the attack on the network, Defence Secretary Rajapaksa accused Sirasa of setting its own studio on fire to bring the government into disrepute and fraudulently claim insurance for equipment. In the same tv appearance, Gotabaya Rajapaksa accused Sirasa of being \u2018the voice of the Tigers\u2019. [\u201c\u0dc3\u0dd2\u0dbb\u0dc3 \u0dad\u0db8\u0dba\u0dd2 \u0d9a\u0ddc\u0da7\u0dd2 \u0dc4\u0dac \u2013 Watch 2009 interview:<\/p>\n